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Merriam-Webster defines the noun as a “type of political action committee that is legally permitted to raise and spend larger amounts of money than the amounts allowed for a conventional PAC.”

The definition adds: “Specifically: an independent PAC that can accept unlimited contributions from individuals and organizations (such as corporations and labor unions) and spend unlimited amounts in support of a candidate but that cannot directly contribute money to or work directly in concert with the candidate it is supporting.”

The official term for the organizations — permitted by a series of federal court cases and administrative decisions in 2010 — is “independent expenditure only committees.” That jumble of words was shortened to “super PAC” by reporter Eliza Newlin Carney, then writing for the National Journal.

The Merriam-Webster entry also includes quotes from campaign finance watchdog Fred Wertheimer and New York Times political reporter Nicholas Confessore.

Merriam-Webster told POLITICO in later 2012 that the organization was working on crafting a definition for the term. The Oxford English Dictionary added the term in 2012.